jim osborn's audio removed & saved here

COURIER-POST EXPOSES STATE INVESTIGATION IN WINSLOW TOWNSHIP

PACs' actions get N.J. scrutiny

Monday, June 20, 2005

Contributions in Winslow spark probe
By ERIK SCHWARTZ Courier-Post Staff

WINSLOW

State officials are investigating a series of alleged campaign-finance violations involving Deputy Mayor Barbara Holcomb, the township's top elected Democrat and the No. 3 official in the Camden County Democratic Party.
The state Election Law Enforcement Commission wants to know if the Winslow Democrats accepted more money than the law allows from their biggest political donor - township engineer Robert L. Churchill - in the 2003 elections, according to documents obtained by the Courier-Post.
Churchill personally, through his firm and through two political-action committees he controlled, gave $77,349 to the campaign of Holcomb, who was running for mayor, and four candidates for the Winslow Township Committee, more than triple the amount permitted, according to allegations now under review by ELEC staff.
Neither Holcomb nor Churchill returned calls seeking comment.
ELEC chief Frederick M. Herrmann could not comment on specific cases.
In general, he said, "You cannot create other entities for purposes of getting around the contribution limits . . . The red flag goes up when you have more than one PAC representing the company."
In such cases, the challenge for regulators is to "demonstrate that these other entities are really controlled by a single entity."
The maximum penalty for a first-time ELEC violation is $6,000.
The Winslow allegations originally were made by Mayor Sue Ann Metzner and Township Committeewoman Karen D. Gibison, Republicans who were winners in 2003. They asked ELEC to investigate Holcomb and her Democratic slate of Victoria Frasier, Daniel F. DiFabio Jr., Norman F. Tomasello and Harry Gatto. Only DiFabio and Frasier won their races.
"I believe this is an illustration of the tail wagging the dog, where Churchill is the tail and the township is the dog," said Metzner, who noted that Winslow paid his firm, which is based on Route 73 in the township, about $1 million last year.
After the general election in 2003, the Democratic majority on Township Committee voted to allow three-year contracts for its municipal engineers instead of the one-year terms traditionally used by this town and others, which Metzner said was a reward for Churchill's campaign support.
But the Democrats did not employ the new policy when the committee made its professional appointments for 2004 or 2005.
Holcomb is the vice chairwoman of the Camden County Democratic Committee and deputy director of the county juvenile detention center.
Holcomb lost the 2003 mayoral race but returned to Township Committee in a special election to replace Frasier, a state worker prohibited from serving. Both the mayor and deputy mayor sit on the committee.
Tomasello, a former mayor, said he was unaware of the 2003 campaign's finances.
"All I signed was the paper they sent in to the ELEC office," he said. "But I never really checked who was giving the money, or where it was coming from, or where it was going . . . Honestly, I don't know a thing."
DiFabio, first elected to Township Committee in 2000 and re-elected in 2003, said he had no involvement in campaign fundraising, which was led by Holcomb's husband, Larry, chairman of the Winslow Democratic Party.
"I don't know the rules," he said. "I was their Ward 4 candidate and all I did was go out and campaign."
DiFabio said the campaign treasurer had replied to ELEC's request for bank records, which were due last month.
He added: "The whole thing's sour grapes" by the Republicans.
Neither Larry Holcomb nor campaign treasurer Maryann A. Frye returned calls for comment.
The first Churchill-connected PAC cited by ELEC in the Winslow case is the firm's business PAC, Friends of Good Government. "We make every attempt to be completely in compliance with ELEC guidelines and laws," said James M. Kinney, PAC treasurer and the firm's controller.
The second PAC involved is Citizens for Change, run by property appraiser Jerry McHale, a township contractor. Since 2000, the only donations the PAC has received came during fall 2003, records show: $7,200 from Churchill and $500 from McHale.
McHale did not return calls.
The ELEC probe in Winslow is just the latest to touch on the large sums that engineering companies spend on local elections.
The former Moorestown firm JCA Associates Inc. got into trouble for its efforts backing Democrats in West Deptford, where it earned millions in fees. Last year, three former JCA executives pleaded guilty to tax charges in the case and a township official was convicted at trial of falsifying campaign records.
In 1998, ELEC collected a $16,900 fine from Remington & Vernick Engineers Inc. of Haddonfield after it admitted to illegally funneling money to Democrats in Gloucester Township and Voorhees through two PACs the firm set up to circumvent limits on contributions.
It's unclear if the practice of awarding no-bid public contracts to political donors erodes trust in government, said Quin Monson, political science professor at Brigham Young University.
"When people exploit loopholes or out-and-out break the law, that does tend to damage confidence in our (democratic) process," he said.
Metzner pointed out that ELEC is just now looking at the 2003 election, just as the parties prepare for a new campaign in which control of Township Committee is again at stake.
"All the politicians that are crying about the need to reform pay-to-play need to give ELEC the money and staff they need to perform these obviously needed investigations," she said.
Reach Erik Schwartz at (856) 486-2904 or eschwartz@courierpostonline.com

RESIDENT ADDRESSES TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE ON PAY TO PLAY, MAYOR METZNER RESPONDS

Originally posted on UNofficially Winslow on November 30, 2004


Winslow Township resident addresses the Township Committee on several subjects including pay to play.



Mayor Metzer responds to the resident's concerns regarding pay to play. The Mayor explains that she presented a sample ordinance, which the controlling committee members have not acted on. Please click on the audio link below to hear our Mayor address this issue.

Mayor Metzner Asks for a Request For Proposal

UNofficially Winslow originally posted, "Mayor Metzner Asks for a Request For Proposal" on December 5, 2004.

NO BID CONTRACTS ARE ALIVE AND WELL IN WINSLOW TOWNSHIP---FULL STEAM AHEAD WITH PAY TO PLAY CONTRACTS WHILE THE REST OF THE STATE IS ADOPTING NEW REGULATIONS TO CONTROL PAY TO PLAY FOR THE BENFIT OF TAX PAYERS. EVERYWHERE BUT WINSLOW TOWNSHIP.

In the audio link below Mayor Metzner is asking for an Engineering Request For Proposal also known as an RFP. An RFP is a simple publication asking for a professional in any field, (in this case engineering) for design, repair, or upgrade of a project or equipment.

In this Winslow Township matter the Mayor is suggesting that Winslow put out an RFP notice for a rather large repair and update project to the Township's water tanks. This is in an effort to save the taxpayer's money. Please click on the audio post below to hear the Mayor's viewpoint, and then please click on the motion made by Mr. DiFabio. In my opinion, Committeeman DiFabio is representing Churchill Engineering, who ultimately got the contract, and not the residents of Winslow Township, Ward 4, or Albion. Please note that Churchill Engineering gave tens of thousands of dollars, believed to be in excess of $110,000. to the election campaign of Committeeman DiFabio and other elected democrats including Holcomb, Wright, and Flamini.

Below is a brief audio link of Committeeman DiFabio's motion and vote. This may be the single most outrageous motion that has ever been made in Winslow Township. Please be sure to listen to the Mayor's summary of the motion.
Please consider reflectinig back on this audio link and motion the next time you pay your taxes or go to the voting booth.

COMMITTEEWOMAN KAREN GIBISON ASKS A QUESTION ABOUT THE LACK OF AN R.F.P.

COMMITTEEMAN BARRY WRIGHT TAKES A STAB AT LOGIC.

COMMITTEEMAN AL COOPER APPLIES REAL LOGIC WHILE ADDRESSING COMMITTEEMAN WRIGHT AND HIS POOR ATTEMPT AT LOGIC.

COMMITTEEMAN DAN DIFABIO TAKES A SHOT AT DAMAGE CONTROL. NOTE THE MAYOR WARNS DIFABIO IN REFERENCE TO ANOTHER MATTER.

COMMITTEEWOMAN KAREN GIBISON REMARKS THAT SHE JUST WANTED THE BEST DEAL FOR THE RESIDENTS AND THE TAX PAYER'S MONEY. WHILE DRAWING AN ACCURATE PARALLEL TO CONSUMER SHOPPING.

COMMITTEEWOMAN MARIE LAWRENCE CHIMES IN, BUT HASN'T GOT A CLUE. SHE CLAIMS TO HAVE REVIEWED INFORMATION THAT HAD NOT BEEN DISRIBUTED PRIOR TO THE EVENING OF THE MEETING.

Have you seen us?
Posted by Hello

COURIER-POST REPORTS: Vision-impaired mayor, Winslow panel spar over aide's post

This article appeared in the Courier-Post newspaper on Monday June 6, 2005. The text reprinted below is from Courier-Post Online which has additional detail from the newpaper publication. UNofficially Winslow.


Vision-impaired mayor, Winslow panel spar over aide's post

Monday, June 6, 2005

By ERIK SCHWARTZ
Courier-Post Staff

WINSLOW
Sue Ann Metzner remembers the day her uncle took her for her driver's test as a 16-year-old in rural western New York.
She recalls the day in 1997 when she pulled into her eye doctor's office before being diagnosed with macular degeneration.

"And I also remember the day we sold my last car," said Metzner, the township's legally blind mayor. "That wasn't just my car leaving. That was my independence.

At the time, Metzner counted two saving graces that she said helped her surmount the vision problem and continue as mayor.

First, she was "in the position long enough to get the learning curve out of the way," having already served for nearly two years before the onset of her eye disease, which took away sight in the center of her field of vision.

And second, the mayor's office was staffed by a secretary, known as a confidential assistant, whose role would broaden to include driving Metzner on municipal business and serving as an extra set of eyes to file, type and manage the increasing paperwork in a growing town, now with more than 35,000 people.

But when the secretary found another job this year, the 5-4 Democratic majority on township committee reduced the position from full-time with benefits to part-time without benefits, no more than 20 hours a week.

Metzner, 58, a Republican, said the switch was a "nasty" tactic to weaken her politically and take advantage of her disability. She noted that the full-time position was funded in the current budget and approved at $35,772 annually in the current salary ordinance.

"It was a move, because I'm legally blind, to make it more difficult to do my job," she said. "I think it was mean-spirited and nasty.

Barry M. Wright, a Democrat on the township committee, said the mayor's job didn't warrant a full-time secretary.

"When you look at taxpayer dollars, why does a part-time mayor need a full-time assistant? Whether she's blind or not blind, it's a part-time position. I don't think the sight thing becomes an issue," he said.

Wright said the Democratic majority waited to shrink the job until its longtime occupant, Dina Smith, left.

"At that point, it seemed like the prudent thing," he said. "Nobody wanted to see that person get hurt."

Metzner acknowledged that her office is, by law, part-time. The mayor is elected at-large and paid $12,721 a year.

Still, Metzner said she treated her office as a full-time position and then some. For example, this weekend she planned to officiate at the wedding of a soldier who may soon ship off to Iraq, and speak at a ceremony honoring Girl Scouts.

"The mayor's job is not Monday-to-Friday to talk to residents. It's what the person makes of it," she said.

Wright said Winslow had staff beyond the mayor's secretary to help. "We have a full-time township administrator, a full-time township clerk and eight other committee members," he said.

A township committee with a GOP majority created the confidential assistant's position in 1993 during the administration of Mayor Albert K. Brown, a Republican.

Metzner, who became mayor in 1996, first battled with Democrats over the position in 1998, shortly after she was diagnosed with macular degeneration.

At the time, the Democratic majority proposed reducing the salary of the assistant by more than half, and she was having trouble getting the township to provide a magnification device for her office to aid her reading.

Metzner wrote the township that she considered the assistant's services "cardinal to the functions of my office" and that limiting the services "will be construed as discrimination based on my disability."

After the Winslow solicitor wrote in a legal opinion that her poor vision appeared to qualify as a disability under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the committee left the assistant's post unchanged and approved the purchase of an Alladin Rainbow Magnification System for about $3,000.

But the solicitor, David C. Patterson, also found that "a full-time `confidential assistant' to the mayor is not necessary as part of the mayor's elected position," according to the opinion.

Wright said that before the resolution cutting the assistant's hours was passed April 12, "our solicitor advised us we were still fulfilling our requirements under ADA."

Metzner said the township had properly provided her with a new, portable magnification device, at a cost of about $2,250, in addition to the desktop model.

But reducing the assistant's hours was wrong, Metzner said.

"The mayor's position hasn't changed in 14 years, and to do this at this stage in a growing community is nothing more than a shot at me personally," she said. "I believe past practice has set a precedent, from a legal perspective."

Resident Christine Murray, 18, said she empathized with the mayor.

"If they know she has a problem, they should have someone to help her," said Murray, a Winslow High senior. "If she needs it to perform her job properly then it would be a good thing to have someone to help."

But Murray reserved judgment on the Democrats who made the move. "It all depends on their point of view," she said.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reach Erik Schwartz at (856) 486-2904 or eschwartz@courierpostonline.com

POLITICAL SIGNS LITTER WINSLOW TOWNSHIP

Normally political signs start to appear after the Labor Day holiday. This year some Winslow Democrats have started to put out their signs after Memorial Day.

Winslow's sign ordinance does exempt temporary political signs from needing a permit. Was the intention of the ordinance to allow political signs more than 5 months in advance of the election?
Click here to review Winslow's sign ordinance.

Perhaps some candidates are concerned about their re-election.

Let's review the last few months.

Barry Wright



Does Wright have any need to be concerned? Here are some bullet items from issues posted on this website UNofficially Winslow.

* Wright was instrumental in reducing the Mayor's assistant's hours and benefits.
Barry M. Wright, a Democrat on the township committee, said the mayor's job didn't warrant a full-time secretary. Courier-Post June 6, 2005

* Wright voted against using the RFP (Request For Proposal) system in order to keep Pay to Play politics alive in Winslow Township.

* Did Wright lie about speed bump issues? Were there ever any speed surveys done on Oak Leaf Road ?

* Did Wright waste tax dollars putting in and now removing speed bumps?

* Did Wright support wasting more tax dollars on speed light signs that still do not work correctly?

* Did Wright address resident's concerns about the speed bumps on Oak Leaf Road?

* Did Wright address the Fire Chief and Fire Marshal's concerns about speed bumps?

Click here to view the letter from the Fire Chief & Fire Marshal addressing speed bumps.

* Did Wright squelch the efforts of having a police officer at both the high school and the middle school in October of 2004. Than later in May of 2005 support the concept when it was to his political advantage to do so?

* Finally, lets not forget how Wright violated the Planning Board's resolution concerning a fence at his own business. Wright was forced to apply, and was granted, an amended resolution.


Marie Lawrence



Why are these signs out so early? Not only is there no primary election in Lawrence's ward, as of this time her election will be won by default. For as of this writing Lawrence's seat on the Township Committee is uncontested.

UNofficially Winslow has reported in the past that Lawrence has not done her home work in several arenas, perhaps her re-election is yet another area that needs more study.

Chuck Flamini




While Flamini might be less vocal, he still voted along party lines with Wright and the other puppets. Why should the residents of Ward 4 allow Flamini to litter the community? Flamini should be made to clean up his mess or be fined. Furthermore, like with the other signs pictured here the Zoning Officer might consider addressing the premature placement of these signs within the community.

The only execption being in Ward 1 where there is currently a primary Democrat campaign in progress to be decided on June 7, 2005.
As noted in the ordinance even these signs in Ward 1 should be removed within 30 days of the election.

EMAIL RECEIVED BY UNOFFICIALLY WINSLOW

----- Original Message -----
From: email received by UNofficially Winslow
To: UNofficiallywinslow@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 8:29 AM
Subject: June 7th election

Which candidates does UNofficially Winslow endorse in the June 7th election?



UNofficially Winslow's response to above email:


Thank you for your email. UNofficially Winslow endorses the following candidates for the June 7th Primary election.

DEMOCRAT COLUMN 3

Male Members of County Committee At Large:
James A. Powell
George L. Wagenseller
Paul Evans

Female Members of County Committee At Large:
Jeanne Borrelli
Charlene Crowder

Norman F. Tomasello for Member of Township Committee

(Ward 1 area)

REPUBLICANS

Bret D. Schundler for Governor
Christine M. Thomas for Freeholder
Alan Herman for Male Member of State Committee
Amy Osborn for Female Member of State Committee
Camille Adolf for Member of Township Committee (Ward 4 area)


I hope this answers your question. Please feel free to email anytime.

Sincerely,

UNofficially Winslow

UNofficiallywinslow@comcast.net